Seed-cotton drying and cleaning apparatus.



PATENTBD MAY 14, 19,07. A. CAMPBELL. SEED COTTON DRYING AND CLEANINGAPPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILED FEB. 21. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAY 14, 1907. A. CAMPBELL. SEED COTTON DRYING AND CLEANINGAPPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATENTED MAY 14, 1907.

A. CAMPBELL. SEED COTTON DRYING AND CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED P123 21. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

. UNITE-D STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

ANGUS CAMPBELL, OF PITTSBURQPENNSYLVANIA.

SEED-COTTON DRYING AND CLEANING APPA RATUS.

without unduly "threshing the cotton or inj uring its fibers.

My'improved cleaning apparatus may in practice .be 1nt erposed in apneumatic conveying tube or conduit through which the cotton is passedfrom, say, a store-house to the gin-house. v v

In connection with'my improved cleaning apparatus I prefer to provideimproved cotton-drying means toco-operate therewith. y

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a broken end elevation of'the drying andcleaning appa ratus; Fig. 2, a reduced section taken on line 2 in Fig.1; Fig. 3, a broken pers ective view of the end portion of a section 0the cottonconveying tube adjacent to the drying-apparatus inlet; Fig. 4,an enlarged, broken and thereof.

partly sectional view of the cotton cleaner; and Fig. 5, 'a broken plansection taken on line 5 in Fig. 4.

A"s a cotton drier comprising a rectangular casing having an inlet a inthetop at one end and an outlet chute b at its opposite lower end. Abovethe inlet a is .a screen structure or deflector B, which may be of theor the like, not shown, terminates short of the opening 0 about mid-wayof the sides On the end of the said tube is a spreader D flaringdownward and toward the. opening 0 to present the V-shaped end d andconcave tapering sides e forming the spreading blade.

' Journaled in the walls of the receptacle or drier A, in thepositionsshown, are'upper shafts f f in the same horizontal plane,intermediate shafts g g and lower shafts h h all provided with sprocketwheels 11. Surrounding the sprocket-wheels on the shafts f is an endlessbelt of mesh-wire reinforced at Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 21, 1-906. Serial No. 302,253.

Patented May 14, 1907.

intervals on its inner side by means of transverse slats l. A similarbelt m surrounds the sprocket-wheels i of the shafts g and a similarbelt n surrounds the sprocket-wheels '5. of the i shafts h. The belts1c, m, n are provided at opposite edges with chains, or the like, m, as1n lcated in Fig. 1, which engage the teeth of the slprocket wheels; andthe reinforcing slats are somewhat shorter than the width of -the beltsso as to pass readily between the sprocket-wheels. pairs f g h at theouter side of the casing are On adjacent shafts of the n practice thecotton, from the store-. house or otherwise, is-driven, as by afanblower, through the tube 0 and as it escapes from the mouth thereofit impinges against the under-side of the flaring spreader D whichoperates to spread it outover the opening a. Quite a percentage ofthedust and other t'rash may be blown out of the cotton as the latterstrikes the mesh-wire walls of the part B, and as the cotton.accumulates there it falls through the opening (1, onto the travelingbelt 7c. From the said belt it drops to thebeltm and from the latter tothe belt 11. whence it is delivered to the chute b. The hot air from thepipe E fills the receptacle A, rising through the screens andcottonthereon to dry the same; and the speed of the conveyerbelts'isregulated to subject-the cotton to the action of the hot air fora time amply su'flicient to cause all moisture to be extracted.

The cleaner F has a base 1* provided with an opening 8 leading to'apneumatic tube or conduit 1., which may extend tothe gin-house and beprovided with a suction fan, or the like, capable of drawing andconveying the provided above its bearing 9 with a pulley l0. Fastened tothe shaft are two or more wheels Ghaving radial spokes 11; and fastenedto the spokes near their outer ends are vertical vanes 12. Surroundingthe wheels G and fastened thereto 'is-an inner cylinder I-I having atapering top-portion 13, all formed of wire mesh. In practice theperiphery of the cylinder I-I may be about two inches from thesurrounding wall or cylinder 6. Fastened to the cylindrical wall H onthe outer side thereof are narrow spiral blades 14, which extend fromthe base of the tapering portion 13 to the lower end of the cylinder I Iand pass around the same about three times. The blades 14 are parallelwith each other and project approximately half way across the space 15between the cylindrical walls H and 6. The pulley 10 is belted to asuitable driving power, not'shown, and through the shaft 8 rotates thewheels G and surrounding mesh-wire cylinder H and attend ant parts at acomparatively high speed. In this rotation a strong current or blast ofair is set up by the vanes 12, the air entering through the top 7 andpassing outward through the cylindrical screen H across the annularspace or passage 15 between the wallsH 6 and through the wall 6.

As the dried cotton falls through the chute 1) onto the rotatingtapering portion 13 it descends into the annular space 15, being carrieddown at comparatively slow speed by the engagement therewith of thespirals 14. The cotton is thus spread, as it descends, in a thin layeragainst the wall 6, against which the blast set up by the vanes isdirected. The air-current thus forced through the cotton blowstrash'from the cotton through the screen wall 6, so that by the time thecotton reaches'the base 1* it is thoroughly cleaned, or approximatelyso. As the cotton is moved around to the o ening s it falls into thetube t and is conveyed thereby to the gin-house.

The action upon the cotton fibers in the descent of the cotton is verygentle, and the fibers are neither injured nor threshed to any materialextent.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In apneumatically operated cotton cleaning apparatus, the combination of anouter chamber, a screen forming the vertical surrounding wall of saidchamber, a rotary vertical cylinder within said chamber having anupwardly tapering top-portion, a screen forming the vertical surroundingwall of said cylinder beneath said top-portion, the cylinder beingsupported in the chamber to leave an annular passage for the cottonbetween the said walls, means for directing a blast of air from thecylinder across said. passage and through the said chamber-wall, meansfor feeding the cotton onto said tapering topportion of the cylinderwhereby it is directed into said passage to descend through the' same,and rotating means for the cylinder,

2. In a pneumatically operating cottoncleaning a paratus, thecombination of a vertical cyiindrical, chamber, a screen forming thesurrounding wall of said chamber, a

the surrounding wall of said chamber, a blast? creating fan insaidchamber having a cylindrical screen forming a surrounding wall aboutsaid fan, the walls forming an annular passage between them for thecotton, and means for rotating the fan and its cylindrical wall-to setup and direct a blast of air across said passage and through the outerwall.

' ANGUS CAMPBELL. In presence of:

A. H. MoEsER, FRED W. ASSEL.

